Peace in Penitence
by absinthespoon
Summary: The life of a shinobi was one without honor. There was no time for such a thing as redemption either. Yet those two very qualities seemed so central to who Uchiha Itachi had declared himself to be that Tenten could not un-see what she has always known. Tenten. Itachi.


Peace in Penitence

Canon-compliant

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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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It was early in the morning. The sun had yet to bless its light upon the village of Konohagakure. The spring wind chills the young and old alike, graceful and merciless.

Tenten took the boiling water kettle off the stove and poured it into a cup filled with dry tea leaves. Then she replaced the kettle and brought the cup to her kitchen table. She gathered an odd collection of items to place alongside the cup of tea.

A broom. A bouquet of flowers purchased yesterday. Sticks of incense and incense burner. A shovel. And two oranges in a box delivered straight from Rice country, according to the courier.

All of these items disappeared as she sealed them into a summoning scroll. She tucked the scroll into a pouch on her upper thigh. Leaving her apartment, she opened the window as she reset her traps, jumping out and onto the rooftops.

….

No one walked the streets at this time save a few members of ANBU prowling unseen.

Tenten took a course away from the village proper, leaping silently with chakra enhanced steps from the rooftops to the trees. She traveled past the Akimichi and Nara lands until she reached the gates that had once housed the now extinguished Uchiha clan.

She jumped and landed on the dirt path and walked the remaining distance to the gates. In her mind's eye, she could see phantom images of a lively clan compound that she had once wished to be a part of. The head of the family always lived in the center, the most defended location. Her eyes took in the wooden houses that degraded year after year without families to upkeep them.

Tenten turned at the junction between houses and resumed her path, past the graveyard and instead to the clearing in the gardens. Uchiha Mikoto had once loved these gardens. After the massacre, a young Uchiha Sasuke had his clansmen buried in the graveyard and asked for his parents to be buried in her gardens. The old Sandaime Hokage saw no reason to refuse such a request.

Tenten's musings came to a stop as she came upon said clearing. It has been a year since she had last set foot on this hallowed ground. The tombstone was carved expertly, such that the words were utterly unaffected by the changing of the seasons.

The weeds had once again grown back but Tenten payed them no mind.

 _Uchiha Fugaku._

 _Uchiha Mikoto._

She knelt in front of their grave.

Whatever they did, whatever faults they might have possessed, they had once taken her in, pitying the orphan friend of their son and showed her the sweet kindness unique to being a part of a family.

She bowed with her forehead protector hitting the ground. "I am back, Aunt Mikoto".

Tenten retrieved the scroll and placed it on the grass in front of her, rolling it out horizontally with one smooth motion. She unsealed the items she packed this morning, the tea cup appearing with steam rising from the heat. She held out the cup and poured it into the ground with a blessing. She unwrapped her bouquet and removed the flowers one by one to place them carefully in front of the tomb stone.

Tenten kept up a steady stream of dialogue, recounting the events of the past year. Her rise to jounin. Offer of ANBU. Her subsequent rejection of ANBU. Her training with another kenjutsu user, Namiashi Raido. She discussed the most recent Sasuke sightings as described by Naruto and Sakura. She tried to recount as much as she remembered of Sasuke, since Fugaku and Mikoto would probably want to hear about him the most. Sasuke had apparently gained the loyalties of some of Orochimaru's former followers prior to his defection and was now traveling with them who knows where. His heart still burned with the need for vengeance, for justice. Tenten honestly could not say that Sasuke was wrong to pursue it. Perhaps only then could the deceased let go of their unspoken bitterness and grievances and find rest. On Sasuke's shoulders were the ghosts of hundreds of his clansmen.

She shook her head to clear herself of these dark thoughts. She spoke of lighter matters. She knew he was somewhere close to Rice country. She recognized Sasuke's calligraphy even before she opened the courier's package yesterday. Before he left the village, he used to come here with her. She eyed the two oranges he sent as offering. "He keeps you two in his heart", she affirmed aloud. As if in response, Tenten felt a soft breeze flow through the clearing and let a tiny smile cross her lips. She decided to bury the oranges later at the edge of the clearing. All the better if they grew into orange trees, although Tenten doubted Konoha's climate would be suited for orange growth.

She rose to stand, intending to cut the weeds and tidy up the place.

The sky was a clear blue with white drifting clouds. Something was off. She flooded her surroundings with chakra and sensed nothing out of place. A bird chirped nearby. The leaves rustled as a calm wind blew through the trees. Nothing.

Tenten turned swiftly while projecting her voice: "Show yourself," she demanded.

There was a long pause. Then the figure lept noiselessly from the adjacent shrubbery to land nearby.

Recognition.

Uchiha Itachi.

Adrenaline flooded through her system even as her mind worked to suppress her fear and outrage. This was an open terrain and suitable for her style if she chose to fight. A fast fifteen minutes chakra-enhanced run to the village was more than doable. If she disengaged quickly enough, a kill-on-sight criminal such as Uchiha Itachi could not pursue so close to Konoha. And from his slight tremor, he did not seem to be in top fighting condition in any case. She wondered briefly if it were faked before deciding against the thought. Itachi would not bother feigning weakness.

She swallowed harshly before she spoke. She intended to query why he was here, but her words seemed to have a will of their own.

"How dare you come here?" Tenten spat, "on today of all days." He made no reply, seemingly taking her in.

She stared boldly into the eyes of Uchiha Itachi. He looked back at her solemnly with those empty eyes. Tenten knew objectively that his eyes could spin into Mangekyou Sharingan at any second. He was merciless. She long wrestled with the horror that Itachi had been _their_ killer. It was unthinkable. Now, he was an agent of the Akatsuki as confirmed by Naruto himself. If he killed her here … no one ever visited the abandoned clan compound, so her dead body would not be discovered until a team was sent out to find her.

Yet he was _here_.

For what reason? Guilt? For his actions which single handedly wiped away a population? If Uchiha Itachi was here to seek atonement for his unspeakable crimes, he would not find it with her.

"Thank you," his words caused her to regard him once more, "for taking care of these grounds". The words had the low cadence she associated with him. Slow and purposeful, as if he had meditated prior to their meeting.

She stared him down a moment longer before shaking her head in the negative, "I haven't taken care of anything." She gestured minutely with her head to the offerings behind her. "Sasuke sent fruits." She looked pointedly at him.

He exhaled, a long drawn out sound. "I apologize. I did not plan ahead."

It was an inadequate reply in this clearing and Itachi must have felt so as well. He walked with silent footsteps up to her tense form, then past her. He swept his cloak to one side and knelt on both knees in front of the grave. He closed his eyes.

It only took an instant to bite her thumb and smear blood down the ink of her arms where she stored her weapons. A dao with a simple golden handle was summoned into existence. She crafted it in the forge herself and named it Seiketsu, with the kanji for clarity and cleansing.

Itachi opened his eyes but did not look back.

He offered no plea, save for "I still have something I must do." It was utterly unconvincing, but in the lines of his back she saw something that looked like remorse.

The life of a shinobi was one without honor. There was no time for such a thing as redemption either. Yet those two very qualities seemed so central to who Uchiha Itachi had declared himself to be that Tenten could not un-see what she has always known.

She could not find it within herself to strike.

"If I find you", she promised, "outside of these walls. I will kill you." Her voice was steady, firm.

He turned his face to hers and she abruptly realized he looked tired. How long has it been since he last slept? She shook those thoughts away. There was tension in his furrowed eyebrows as he decided on what to say, "I was wrong."

"Why did you do it?" her words came fast. There was no mistaking what she was asking.

Itachi hesitated once more. "I thought it would bring peace," He murmured to the tombstone. "I was wrong," he repeated. In his mind's eye, he imagined Danzo stretching his insidious shadow to encompass all of Konoha in its wake.

Tenten let out a frustrated huff unable to believe the stupidity of his words. "Of course it was wrong. Even if there was some extenuating circumstance, you should have found another way." With his actions he had spilled the blood of old and young indiscriminately. He ran away with a slash through his forehead protector alongside his new status as traitor. He rendered his brother an orphan with nothing but vengeance in his heart. And he left her alone once more.

Itachi turned his gaze to his parents. "I tried," his voice was half pleading. He exhaled before starting again, "perhaps I could have found another way. Forgive me, I was unable to." The words were more to himself than to her. His frame shook minutely with a cough of some kind.

With a grimace, Tenten sent away her summoned sword. Clearly she was missing part of the story here and Itachi was unwilling to tell her the rest. She felt herself standing at the precipice and decided to heck with it all. "It better be a good reason Uchiha," she muttered before stating, "if Sasuke forgives you, then … then I will consider it too."

She brushed past him to pick up the broom once more and placed it into his hands. "You can sweep this year." Uchiha Fugaku and Mikoto would probably prefer it anyway.

Itachi curled his fingers around the handle, looking at her for once with some sign of life in his eyes. She made a sweeping motion as she gestured to the surrounding area, in case he somehow missed her words, "make sure you cut down the weeds as well."

Then Tenten turned to pick up the rest of her items, along with the two oranges Sasuke sent. She walked to the edge of the clearing and dug two spaced out shallow holes with the small shovel. She placed the oranges inside each, and, with a brief blessing, covered the top with soil. They would grow with luck. She turned to find Itachi sweeping in place as he stared pensively at the carved names.

Regardless of his motivations, she reminded herself, he was here. That must mean something. Tenten stepped in front of him and knelt to place incense atop the incense burner. She could light them easily with a tag or fire jutsu. But it somehow seemed appropriate to have Itachi to do it. She turned to find him watching her, and signaled the code for fire. It was a little wave, as if she were using an Uchiwa fan. She was sure the symbolism was not lost on him.

Itachi blinked and knelt in front of the incense holder, temporarily relinquishing the broom. He cannot remember the last time he used hand signals for Katon. Yet here, he crosses his hands into the tiger seal and whispers "Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu" and exhales tiny balls of flame to light each stick.

He steps back holding the broom once more and looks to her. She decides in that instant to offer him a place in the event that he has nowhere to go.

"I'm thinking of starting a weapons shop" she mentions casually as she watched the incense smoke rise, "near Konoha. Or maybe in Suna since Gaara wouldn't refuse me."

He tries to read her intentions before lowering his eyelashes, "that sounds like it would suit you."

"You could come visit," she continues. "You know, afterwards."

"Afterwards?"

"After you and Sasuke" Tenten makes another incomprehensible gesture, "work it out." She made it sound so easy.

Itachi does not quite know what the gesture conveyed. And he does not plan on living past his meeting with his little brother. He believes with every fibre of his being that he deserves to be judged. But he nods and says nothing. He appreciates her sentiment nonetheless and is humbled by her effortless trust. Perhaps in another life, one where he is not weighed down by his unforgivable transgressions, he could go see her shop.

She turns to leave, leaping into the trees and to her future. He stays, rooted in his past.

….

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